The Education of Little Tree

I love this book. It is both happy and sad and I have never cared more for fictional characters than for Little Tree and his grandparents.

Indeed, a wonderful book, though it was originally falsely claimed to be an autobiograph and I never like authors deceiving their public. Still, the writing is

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fabulous!

This is the growth story of an orphaned Cherokee boy raised by his grandparents. The appreciation of nature and the unhurried lifestyle of the these three gives gives the book a wonderful ambiance in which I like to bask for as long as I can. The encounters Little Tree has with the surrounding world -Christians and such- always made me either laugh or blink tears from my eyes but never left me cold.

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This story is best suited to seventh and eight grade readers because it does have some violent situations. The story comes off as straight autobiographical (which makes it seem even more believeable to the reader) a teachable moment when you explain to young readers that its intent is to draw the

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reader in and make the story come alive for them which it succeeds in doing. The story is a bout a cherokee boy who loses his parents and is forced to move to his grandparents home in some very hard times in some untolerable situations. he learns about his culture and how to rely on himself and his histroy to survive and not on the promises of others. A great coming of age story.

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Claimed autobiographical account of the author's early life as a Cherokee orphan raised on the reservation by his grandparents. After winning several literary awards it was posthumously revealed that the author "Forrest Carter" was in reality Asa Earl Carter, a White Ku Klux Klansman and

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segregationist politician from Alabama, who had never been orphaned as a child

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This is the precursor to many of the recent books presented as memoir, but actually fiction. It has been well established that this book is a work of fiction, but the publishers continue to present it as a factual memoir The author's real name is Asa Carter, a segragationist speach-writer for

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George Wallace. A dishonest book.

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"Gramma said when you come on something good, first thing to do is to share it with whoever you can find; that way , the good spreads out where no telling it will go. Which is right." This is a feel-good story. I laughed, but I cried more. This is a really special book that changes how you look at

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the world. I didn't know about the controversy around its author until after I read it, and I'm glad. I'm seriously considering reading this with my middle school students next year.

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This book has gotten some flack for not being a real memoir - but I still love this book, no matter who the author was. The story, the characters are still the same, and this is one of my favorite books, though its tag is "fiction" instead of "memoir" or non-fiction." Heartwarming and fun - a book

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that will make you laugh and cry and love the characters and not want it to end.

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While I didn't like this book much, I think it was very important for me to have read it. I read the book in my eighth grade english class which was the first advanced class I had taken. I think about half way through reading the book together in class, someone discovered the fact that this book is

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in fact not autobiographical like it claims. We did end up reading the entire book, but the important thing that we all got from it was the debate over whether or not it's even relevant, since the author is not the person in the story.

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This is one of my favorite books. I read it again every so often. It moves me in a different way each time I read it.

I remember reading this book in middle school and liking it very much. Then a year or so ago I read that it was made up, that Forrest Carter was a racist or something of that nature and that the book, ostensibly autobiographical, was complete fiction. Disappointing now, but I liked it back when.

The most interesting thing to me about this book is the flack it has gotten for not being true, as it was originally portrayed. Nevertheless I liked it. The characters are still the same, though it's "fiction" instead of "memoir". Heartwarming and fun - a book that will make you laugh and cry and

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love the characters!

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"Gramma said when you come on something good, first thing to do is to share it with whoever you can find; that way , the good spreads out where no telling it will go. Which is right." This is a feel-good story. I laughed, but I cried more. This is a really special book that changes how you look at

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the world. I didn't know about the controversy around its author until after I read it, and I'm glad. Great book.

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The Education of Little Tree is about a young boy who loses his mother and is adopted by his grandparents. His grandmother is Cherokee and his grandfather is half Cherokee and they live in the mountains of Tennessee during the great depression. The education that Little Tree receives is in how to

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live with nature, to observe the earth as she breathes and realize that we are better for living in harmony with it. Little Tree learns to listen to the trees, read the news of the day by the tracks and how to truly listen with his heart. His grandfather also teaches him the fine art of making and selling moonshine. The cruel world outside intrudes for a time and tries to assimilate Little Tree into the white culture but is unsuccessful. The grandparents eventually leave Little Tree alone, but not without an education in what is truly important.

I have read this book several times in my life, first as a young child on a trip from California. I cry every time I read it, but my tears are mostly in wonder at the ability of the writer to touch my heart. I laughed at the grandparents casual life and strong love. The writer portrays the life of Little Tree and his grandparents in a way that makes me want to live in the mountains like he did. I come away each time I read this book with a greater appreciation for nature and a profound sadness for the cruelty of humans to their fellowman.

In a classroom, this book could be used to provoke discussions about racism among all peoples. The class could discuss the Cherokee nation and study their movements and the reasons for their moving. The history of the United States' dealings with the Native American peoples could be studied. In Oklahoma, a field trip could be planned to Talequah to see the street signs in Cherokee.

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This book was first published in 1977 and touted as "true." It tells of a five-year-old Indian orphan who, in the Depression 1930s, comes to live wih his Cherokee grandparents. The story is told by the boy, with some improbabilities (e.g., the grandmother reads Shakespeare and Gibbon to the

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illiterate grandfather and the five-year-old grandson). For much of the book I was underimptressed and maybe that is why the closing chapters seemed so stunningly poignant. But I was thoroughly blown away by the story and its super-poignant final chapters. I only give it less than five stars because of the defects of the earlier part of the book. But the book is a stunning triumph when viewed by its effect as it ends.

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though there's a lot of discussion as to whether or not this book is true what I can say is it contains a lot of truth. It's a coming of age story of a young boy who lives with his grandparents in the mountains and learns wisdom. It is part southern folklore and part Native American aphorisms.

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Great beginning but it quickly picks up speed and moves at a breakneck speed toward a not so satisfying conclusion. Grandfather has some great one liners.

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To potential readers: Y'all do know that this is not a real memoir, right? That it was really written by a white man (a KKK member, no less)?

Beautiful. The review on the back cover that says "this is a book you never truly recover from" describes it perfectly. Amazing, powerful. It will change how you view those you love and the earth we live on.

Good book....formulaic writing which almost seems to be written to drag the emotions out. Nevertheless, nicely done.

** spoiler alert ** This book was on my required reading list in 9th grade (maybe 10th). I read it, I enjoyed it. But this time around, I feel like I got even more. I laughed, I cried, I laughed, and then I thought...huh?

I know the author's story...he's not Cherokee at all...in fact, he's a racist.

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I still like the story. But the thing that got me was that in the 1930s, I'm supposed to believe that a 9 year old boy rode off into the sunset by himself? Nine years old? Isn't that how old Little Tree is by the end? And he just finds a horse somewhere and heads out west? That I don't believe it. I can't really think of any other way to end the book...but I certainly don't believe this ending. How would ANYONE have EVER believed this was a TRUE STORY? Maybe I just don't understand the 1930s...but really?! Nine?!

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I loved this book! The story was humorous, yet heartbreaking. I found it especially interesting that while the whites were never portrayed as stereotypes or clowns, given the situations they were put in, they often came off as the fools.

Forrest Carter, from the age of four or five, was inseparable from his part-Cherokee grandfather, who owned a farm and ran a country store nearby. Granpa called him Little Sprout; when he grew taller, he became Little Tree. From Granpa he absorbed the Cherokee ethic; to give love without expecting

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gratitude, to take from the land only what you need. Little Tree watches a mountain storm when Nature is birthing Spring, learns bird signs and wind songs and which crops to plant by the dark of the moon. He hears the true story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears, and why it is not the Indian who wept, but the watching white man. From a Jewish peddler who came every season to Granpa's store he learns a lesson in charity; from a sharecropper he learns to understand misplaced pride. He escapes death through Granpa's courage and confronts, for the first time, the hypocrisy and brutality of white Americans.Much of the lore passed from generation to generation by word of mouth is found in these stories in The Education of Little Tree, autobiographical if not all factually accurate. For instance, Granma is based on family memories of Carter's great-great-great grandmother (Granpa's great-grandmother), who was a full Cherokee, combined with the author's own mother, who read Shakespeare to him when he was a child. But Granpa is all and forever true in this storyteller's memoir of a time that ended when Little Tree was ten and Granpa died.

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A five year old boy loses his parents, and is then taken home by his grandparents, both Cherokee. They teach him the Cherokee Way, and he learns to love nature and life itself, until the government tries to place him "more appropriately".

Involving read, very enjoyable, and worth a reread in the

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future. Recommended.

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This is the story of Little Tree, a five-year-old boy who is brought up by his Cherokee grandparents after his mother dies. Although the introduction claims it's an autobiographical reminiscence, it is in fact fiction. Moreover, the author is not Cherokee; at one point he was apparently a member of

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extreme racist groups in the USA.

Nevertheless, it's a very well-written book. I gather that some of the details of Little Tree's life and Cherokee customs are not based on reality, but pure fiction; that would perhaps upset people from this background, but for me it was a delightful insight into a world I knew nothing about.

Moreoever, the book is very pro-Cherokee, and positive about Little Tree's experiences, educational and otherwise. White men are shown to be bigoted and legalistic, and Little Tree's brief foray into a boarding school is heart-breaking.

I can only assume that the author had repented of his former beliefs when he wrote it. Some critics consider the language offensive - it's written in a distinctive style, almost as if in five-year-old language at times. But for me, it added to the realism of the story.

All in all, I thought it a lovely book.

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rabck from Erishkigal; considering this book was written under a pen name by a racist Southerner who likely never set foot in Tennessee, it was quite good. Using a young boys backwoods dialect, it tells the story of Little Tree, orphaned at age 5, who goes to live with his part Indian grandparents

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in the hills of Tennessee. This folk wisdoms of the grandparents are quite delightful. This book will move along as a wishlist tag to another bookcrosser.

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What a charming little book. It's the story of a Cherokee boy who loses his parents when he is five. He goes to live with his grandparents up in the mountains. Although the language is a bit archaic and can be hard to read it also adds to the feeling of the story. It's set in the 1930's. The boy

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learns a number of things about living off of and with nature such as when and what to gather. How different birds will have different meanings to the Cherokee. Towards the end of the book and he has been living with his grandparent for a few years the law intervenes and he is sent to an orphanage. When this first happens I was thinking please don't let him end up living out his days this way. He of course doesn't, his grandfather comes to visit at Christmas time and he goes back to the mountains. Was very enjoyable to read, but the end is truly sad.

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